New Madonna Compilation

Thought I'd paste the Warner Bros. press release for Madonna's upcoming compilation "Celebration".

There might be some previously commercially or completely unavailable 45 versions on CD, we'll see.

July 23, 2009 - For Immediate Release (Burbank, California) - Madonna, who has racked up a record 37 top 10 hits as well as seven No. 1 albums (including her last four) on the Billboard Pop Charts, has given her fans yet another opportunity to “celebrate” her musical achievements. Today, Warner Bros. Records officially confirmed the September 28th release in the U.S. (September 29 outside U.S.) of “CELEBRATION” – the ultimate compilation of Madonna songs. The songs on “Celebration” have all been remastered and selected by Madonna and her fans. They cover the expanse of the Material Girl’s extraordinary career of hits including “Everybody,” “Express Yourself,” “Vogue” and “4 Minutes.” “Celebration” will be available in a two-CD set as well as a single CD. There will also be a “Celebration” DVD released simultaneously which includes the video visionary’s best videos including several that have never before been available on DVD.

“Celebration,” the CD will also include two new songs that were recently recorded in New York City. The first single, also titled, “Celebration,” co-produced by Madonna and Paul Oakenfold, will be released August 3rd. A video for the single, which will be included on the “Celebration” DVD was just filmed in Milan, Italy and was directed by long time Madonna collaborator Jonas (“Ray of Light”) Akerlund. Several dance club remixes of “Celebration” are already headed to the clubs. The song will also be available on CD and vinyl maxi. Radio will receive the “Celebration” single on August 3rd.

The cover for “Celebration” was created by street pop artist “Mr. Brainwash” who is best known for “throwing modern cultural icons into a blender and turning it up to eleven.”

Madonna, a multi Grammy award winning singer, writer and producer has had over 12 No. 1 singles and has a record-smashing 39 No. 1 singles on Billboard’s Hot Dance Club Songs Chart – by far the most of any artist in the over 30 year history of the list.

Found the following track listing on amazon for the upcoming two cd set:

Disc: 1
1. Hung Up
2. Music
3. Vogue
4. 4 Minutes
5. Holiday
6. Everybody
7. Like A Virgin
8. Into The Groove
9. Like A Prayer
10. Ray Of Light
11. Sorry
12. Express Yourself
13. Open Your Heart
14. Borderline
15. Secret
16. Erotica
17. Justify My Love
18. Revolver

Disc: 2
1. Dress You Up
2. Material Girl
3. La Isla Bonita
4. Papa Don't Preach
5. Lucky Star
6. Burning Up
7. Crazy For You
8. Who's That Girl
9. Frozen
10. Miles Away
11. Take A Bow
12. Live To Tell
13. Beautiful Stranger
14. Hollywood
15. Die Another Day
16. Don't Tell Me
17. Cherish
18. Celebration

Hopefully some of these will be the 45 versions. Of course not every hit is here (impossible to fit every charter especially with the inclusion of two new tracks).

So these won't be those awful Q-Sound Versions on the Immaculate Collection will they? I hope that Vogue, Borderline, and Cherish are the single versions.

Does anyone know if there is going to be a vinyl release?

If the do right this time, they should've called it "The Immaculate Correction!" LOL - OK very bad.

Previews for each track are available on the Amazon France website and another European online retailer called CeDe (the compilation is released tomorrow in Europe).

From what I heard, here are the insufferable Immaculate Collection remixes which make their way again: "Vogue", "Like a Virgin", "Open your Heart", "Borderline", "Lucky Star", and "Crazy for You".

The previews for "Express Yourself" sound like the remix/edit but with a shorter running time. An early owner of the compilation confirms it clocks in at 4:00 and has the intro used in the videos and "Local Mix", so it looks like we get a "Celebration" specific new mix.

For "Cherish", the preview does not play the IC remix, and lists track time as 3:50 (which matches the running time of IC version closer than the original 7" version). So this may be another new mix/fade.

Same with "Everybody". It sounds like the original version and listed as 4:10 which does not match the original edit running time of 3:58.

"Into The Groove" is the original version.

The rest of the previews sound like the album or edit versions, and closely match their running times.

Looks like no original 45 versions make their CD debut on this compilation.

You can also hear a preview of the second new song "Revolver".

Here's a track by track description from the Amazon clips and running times as reference:

Disc: 1
1. Hung Up (album version)
2. Music (album version)
3. Vogue (IC remix)
4. 4 Minutes (edit)
5. Holiday (album version)
6. Everybody (new edit/mix)
7. Like A Virgin (IC remix)
8. Into The Groove (original version)
9. Like A Prayer (album version)
10. Ray Of Light (edit)
11. Sorry (edit)
12. Express Yourself (new edit/mix)
13. Open Your Heart (IC remix)
14. Borderline (IC remix)
15. Secret (edit)
16. Erotica (edit)
17. Justify My Love (album version)
18. Revolver

Disc: 2
1. Dress You Up (album version)
2. Material Girl (album version)
3. La Isla Bonita (album version)
4. Papa Don't Preach (album version)
5. Lucky Star (IC remix)
6. Burning Up (3:41 album version)
7. Crazy For You (IC remix)
8. Who's That Girl (album version)
9. Frozen (album version)
10. Miles Away (edit)
11. Take A Bow (album version)
12. Live To Tell (album version)
13. Beautiful Stranger (album version)
14. Hollywood (album version)
15. Die Another Day (album version)
16. Don't Tell Me (edit)
17. Cherish (new edit/mix)
18. Celebration (original version)

Brian W. wrote: I was about to post this myself. Yes, it's sad. But it is the album debut of the original version of "Into the Groove" and also the CD debut of the "unmixed" album-length version of "Hung Up." (Which I already had in lossless, thanks to MusicGiants.)

Well, if the mastering is decent then it would be nice to get a good sounding version of the original "Into The Groove" on CD. But the rest of the collection is an utter disappointment.

I wonder if anyone at the label is even aware that the 45 version of "Borderline" is a unique mix? It's so frustrating that this superior version is continually ignored when the song is reissued on CD, outside of the ultra-rare Japanese box.